Since you all asked so nicely, here's the next chaplet. Youse guys are the best!

Thanks to TineSoes for catching my math mistake with dates! BC goes down in year as time progresses, not up. I've fixed it, but it should be 422 BC, not 432 BC. :o)

This isn't beta'd, pre-read, or had anyone look at it but me. Sorry for the mistakes. Lots of fluff that came from a dream I had and turned into this. Sort of-kind of based on Ancient Rome, but mostly made up. Completed in 8 chaplets.

Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the bed. Did the court expect her betrothed to take her innocence this very night? She would be bound to him as wife unequivocally if that happened. "Edward, where are you?" Isabella pleaded aloud. "You promised you would come for me. That I would be no man's save yours."

She sank to her knees beside the bed, blinking rapidly to keep her tears at bay. The flaps to the tent flung open and the silhouette of a man illuminated by the sun stood there. Isabella choked on her breath. How could a settlement for her have been made so swiftly?

He entered and the flaps closed, allowing him to be exposed by the oil lanterns scattered around the tent. Isabella gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Edward!" she cried out and rushed to her feet. She flung herself into his arms and shook with relief. "You are here."

Edward held her tight, soothing one hand up and down her back. "I am here, beauty. I swore I would not leave you and I won't." He lifted a hand to tilt Isabella's jaw up and kissed her lips.

She allowed them a moment to revel in one another, but that was all. She pulled way and laced one hand through his "Come, Edward, we must escape quickly."

A low chuckle vibrated in his chest. "Beauty, we have time."

She shook her head and tugged at his hand. "No, whoever has won me will be here soon to claim me as his bride. We have to go!"

"Beauty, be at peace. You have already been claimed for a bride." He dipped his head to steal another kiss. "Your husband-to-be is with you."

Isabella leaned back, stunned by his words. "You mean, you…" Her eyes traveled over Edward's clothes and realization burst upon her. His emerald green tunic and gold sash across his torso were not the attire of a soldier. "You are the prince?"

Edward regarded her carefully, as if he thought he might spook Isabella. "I am, but I am also a soldier who serves my country. A man who wished to marry for love and not a lady scheming to become a princess." He ran his fingertips over Isabella's cheek. "I want to marry you, beauty. If you will still have me?" Isabella stared at Edward, trying to reconcile these two personas in her mind. "The choice is entirely yours. If you do not desire to this union, you may walk from this tent free of any consequences. My only wish is for your happiness."

A delighted grin broke across Isabella's face and she threw her arms around Edward's neck. "Of course I will marry you, Edward. I love you, even if you are a prince."

Edward laughed loudly and picked Isabella up, holding her close to him. "My sweet beauty, your heart is much too good and kind for me. But now that you have declared yourself mine, I cannot allow you to change your mind." He kissed her deeply then, and Isabella let her body be filled with love, joy, and all-consuming desire.

Isabella found herself being pressed down into the downy softness of the bed with Edward climbing on top of her. The rational part of her mind told her to protest, to insist he stop until vows were exchanged. But between Edward's heady kisses, wicked caresses, and the aching yearning burning in Isabella's veins, she gave herself over to the passion. She would be his wife, his princess, and his lover. Isabella did not doubt these facts no matter what order they occurred.

Edward shifted to sit back and Isabella whined at the loss of his kisses and heat from his body. With a knowing smirk, Edward lowly laughed. "Do not worry, my beauty. This night will satisfy and give you pleasure unlike any you've felt before. Lie back and let me love your body the way I was meant to."

She eased onto the pillows once more, startled when Edward began sliding the silk of her draped dress up her legs. She instinctively drew her knees up and together, but Edward shook his head. "Nay, my love. That secret place was made for me." He leaned over to press soft kisses and gentle nips of teeth on her knees and thighs. "For my touch…my kiss…my cock."

Isabella gasped at his coarse words while a thrill went down her spine. This man tempted her in so many scandalous ways. Her legs fell apart and Edward kissed his way along one creamy thigh. Isabella panted shallowly as her dress shifted and exposed her dark curls. Edward groaned at the sight and brushed one hand along her sex to find it wet with her arousal. With one last smoldering look up at Isabella, Edward pressed his mouth to her.

Isabella moaned at the feeling of his tongue licking at where pleasure quivered and throbbed inside her. She could not look away from the erotic sight of his copper hair shining in the low light and his dark green eyes peering up at her. Slow burning fire built in her abdomen as Edward lapped and kissed and sucked. But it was when he massaged his tongue on a small nub hidden at the apex of her curls, that Isabella's body rocked with intense pleasure.

"Oh, Gods! Edward," she cried out and grip his thick locks with one hand. Her hips bucked up, needing more from him. Edward continued his attentions on the nub Isabella had not even known she had, driving her mad with ecstasy. She dangled from a precipice, not knowing how to cross the edge she knew held the pool of rapture she wanted to drown in.

Suddenly, Edward pushed two fingers inside her and Isabella clenched around them. Slowly, he pumped them in and out, in time with the movements of his tongue. Isabella's body tensed with anticipation and she fisted her fingers in Edward's hair. Edward rubbed his tongue harder against her nub, fingers thrusting deeper and curling inside until Isabella toppled over the edge. "Edward!" she keened as her body shuddered with waves of pleasure. Edward did not stop his ministrations until Isabella lay limp on the bed. Only then did he crawl over her with a smug grin.

"You taste of the sweetest sin, my beauty. I believe the urge to feast upon your nectar shall be fierce and frequent." His eyes teased as he licked his lips.

Isabella blushed, but boldly lifted her head to capture his lips. The tangy flavor surprised Isabella, but she did not dislike it. And from Edward's wild response to her kiss, she guessed he enjoyed her curiosity. His tongue plundered and tangled, and his hands grasped and tore at the fabric of her dress. The silk easily slipped from its confines and fell away from Isabella's body, exposing her completely.

Only then did Edward raise his head to hungrily look over his bride's body. "My beauty," he roughly moaned. "Your body is perfect and the tempting to the brink of madness. I've dreamed of seeing you like this for years. Of claiming your body with my own."

"Have me, my love," Isabella sighed as her hands worked the ties holding his tunic together. "I am only yours."

Edward nuzzled her neck, nipping at her sensitive skin. He let Isabella push his clothes off. She purred at the feel of his skin against hers. "Tell me, beauty," Edward asked and shifted his head to hold her gaze, "are you only mine?" She furrowed her brow at his words. "You once told me I was your first kiss. Am I the only to kiss you?"

"Aye," she answered truthfully. "I've never let another man touch my skin, let alone kiss me."

Edward dropped his head to the crook of her shoulder, but not before Isabella saw his smile. "That should not please me as much as it does. I'd no claim on your affections, but I am still glad to be the only one to know your charms."

Isabella ran her hand up his torso and along Edward's jaw to tilt his face to hers. "Edward, you claimed my heart the instant we met. I could never consider another when there was you."

Edward made a rumbling noise in his chest and kissed her again. "May I join my body with yours, beauty? Claim you true as my bride?"

"Aye, Edward," she moaned and undulated beneath him. "I shall love you and only you for eternity. I give my heart, my faith, and my body to you alone."

Edward kissed her deeply then and the thick length of his cock slid along her folds. Isabella arched into him desperate to have him fill her body with his, her hands pressing into his back as she tried to pull him closer. Much to her frustration, Edward shifted and rested his forehead to hers.

"Isabella," he whispered. "I vow to cherish you always and give my heart to you freely. I swear to never know another's touch save yours. My love, my protection, and my body are only for you."

Tears shimmered in Isabella's eyes. From this moment on, they would be husband and wife. Her most coveted wish had come true.

He shifted to line the blunt head of his erection at her entrance. "Isabella?"

She nodded in acquiescence. "Aye, Edward."

Slowly, he pressed inside, stretching and filling Isabella in the most delicious way. A sharp moment of discomfort jolted her and Edward cradled her close to him. "I am sorry, beauty. There was no way to spare you the pain of breaching your maidenhead."

She brushed her lips to his, "Tis over and I am well. Please, Edward, give me that sweet ecstasy again."

A feral growl came from Edward as he thrust to the hilt inside her. He caressed a hand to hitch her right thigh up, spreading her open to give more room for movement. Then he withdrew to rock back into Isabella, eliciting a breathy cry from her.

Slow, deep thrusts brought them together over and over. Edward made certain to grind his pelvis down each time, stimulating the tiny nub that was the seat of Isabella's pleasure. She moaned and grasped at him, digging her fingertips into Edward's back. Isabella's hips rose to meet him and her body gripped Edward's cock tightly with her wet heat.

All too soon, Isabella felt the coiling of that sweet tension inside and pleas fell from her lips. Edward moved more urgently, desperate for his bride to find her completion so he could follow her into the abyss. As Isabella's body clenched around him, he fought against his building orgasm. "Take your pleasure, beauty. It will wash away your virgin's blood and milk my cock so that I may join you."

With a sharp cry, Isabella shattered around him, her body quivering and pulsing with ecstasy. Edward threw his head back and thrust one final time before he too was overtaken and his seed flowed into Isabella's womb.

Thoughts?